Harry Potter and the Memory Thief
by CPO Backstreet
Summary: Part 3 of my post-epilogue series. Harry and Hermione are finally getting married but an incident on their honeymoon looks set to ruin their happiness. Is there a connection with the escape from Azkaban?
1. Chapter 1: In Sickness and In Health

**I wasn't sure about writing this since I didn't get that much of a reaction to the first two stories (I still haven't received a single review for the last two chapters of the second one) but every now and then someone adds them to their favourites so I guess there's an audience somewhere. I knew what was going to happen to the characters next and I really wanted to write it so I decided I might as well post it.**

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CHAPTER ONE: In Sickness and In Health

Harry hadn't woken up feeling as bad in over twenty years. And the previous time he had actually died. He struggled to get his mind in some sort of functional state whereby he could remember exactly what had happened to make him feel like that. Some part of his brain was screaming that something important was happening that day so he did his best to focus on that.

Oh. Yes. He was getting married.

His brain managed to drag up the memory of the time, only a month previous, when he'd proposed to Hermione. Even though they'd been together less than eighteen months, after being friends for all their adult life and a good portion of their childhood, it hadn't taken either of them long to know just how much they wanted to be husband and wife and to make it happen as soon as possible.

His brain then moved on to the less pleasant memories of the previous night. His last night of freedom. For some reason, all of them had thought it was a good idea when George suggested they apparate to various pubs, drinking a pint at each, and see how drunk they had to get before one of them splinched. He wasn't sure if it was eight or nine pints in before Seamus had managed to leave a leg behind. There had been much laughing before someone, probably Teddy who had the dispiritingly hardy constitution of youth on his side, had finally gone back to get and reattach it.

"Morning, Harry,"a voice declared loudly as the door was thrown open.

Harry winced and glared at Neville. "How come you're in such good health?"

Neville handed him a beaker full of liquid which actually smelled surprisingly pleasant. "Advantage of having a Herbology professor as your best man. I've been experimenting with hangover cures for years. Luna suggested a few ingredients that I didn't even know existed. Still not sure about some of them. Oh yeah – and James and Albus are waiting downstairs."

Harry drank the liquid down in one go and was relieved that the pain seemed to subside quickly. He had a feeling that appearing hungover in front of his two teenaged sons would be considered bad form. "Remind me never to get married again,"he told Neville.

Neville grinned. "I think Hermione will do that for me."

* * *

Hermione examined herself in the mirror for what felt like the twentieth time that morning. She didn't pay this much attention to her appearance normally but just once, just for that day, she wanted her hair and dress to be just right. So she wasn't at all happy when, also not for the first time that morning, she noticed a wand being surreptitiously pointed at her hair. She slapped the wand away and glared at her chief bridesmaid and hostess for the night. "Luna, I don't need ringlets."

Luna screwed her face up in disappointment. "But you need them to keep the ammites away."

"My hair is perfectly fine the way it is." Hermione was hit by a sudden wave of self-consciousness. "Isn't it?"

Luna relaxed slightly and smiled at her. "I'm sure Harry will like it very much."

Hermione suddenly realised they weren't alone. She turned to the doorway and was greeted by the sight of her daughter Rose and Harry's daughter Lily, both dressed in bridesmaid outfits similar to the ones Luna was wearing. She gave a gasp of delight. "You both look beautiful."

Rose tugged at her dress worriedly. "Really?"

"Really,"Hermione reassured her, drawing the two girls into a shared hug.

Rose smiled. "Thanks, Mum."

"Thanks, Auntie Hermione,"Lily echoed.

Hermione released them and looked them up and down again. "If we're not careful, someone will try and marry you two as well."

"I'm not going to get married until I'm really old,"Lily claimed. "Even older than you and Dad."

"You'll change your mind,"Luna remarked absently, even though her attention seemed largely focused on making the tip of her unused wand change colour.

"Where's Hugo?"Hermione asked.

Rose stepped aside and pushed her younger brother into view. He was dressed in his page boy's outfit, although he'd managed to convince everyone to let him discard the hat and anything approaching tights, so it just looked like a slightly more elaborate version of the robes Harry's groom party were wearing. "Do not tell me I look lovely,"he warned Hermione.

* * *

With two of their most famous employees getting married, and with long term friend Kingsley Shacklebolt still holding the office of Minister of Magic, the Ministry had agreed to let their own chapel be made available for the service. Seamus Finnegan and Ernie Macmillan had been appointed as ushers and were efficiently showing the guests to their seats. Harry's godson Teddy Lupin and his wife Victoire were ushered towards the groom's side, as were Harry's old House Quidditch team-mates Oliver Wood, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson. Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein, who worked closely with Hermione at the Ministry, were shown to the bride's side. Seamus was just thinking everything was going smoothly when Arthur and George Weasley turned up.

Seamus swallowed hard. Nowhere in the guidebooks had it said what to do when the ex-father-in-law and ex-brother-in-law of both the bridge and groom turn up. "Mr. Weasley! Ah, bride or groom?"

Arthur looked puzzled. "That's a good question." He looked at George. "We both met Harry first, didn't we?"

"By a few hours, yeah,"George agreed.

Arthur turned back to Seamus with a smile. "Groom, please."

Seamus handed him the order of service. "Why don't you sit with Oliver?"

"Good idea."

Seamus breathed a sigh of relief once the pair were out of earshot. "That was a close one."

"Nice to get an up close look at Gryffindor bravery,"Ernie remarked lightly.

Harry caught Arthur and George's eyes as they sat down and nodded gratefully. He couldn't help being reminded of his wedding to Ginny. Ron had been his best man that day. Given that he was now marrying Ron's ex-wife, and that she had effectively left Ron for him, he and Hermione had had long discussions about whether inviting him or not inviting him would be the biggest insult. Ron had apparently sensed their quandary and decided to make it easy for them: On being told of the wedding, he'd immediately offered to pick up Rose and Hugo after the reception.

Neville as best man and James and Albus as groomsmen were standing next to Harry. "Have you got the rings, Professor?"James asked his Head of House.

Neville patted his pockets. "Yes."

"And your speech?"Albus asked.

Neville looked worried and turned to Harry. "Just make something up,"Harry told him.

Before they could say anything further, the string quartet in the corner started playing the entrance music. Harry looked round and saw Hermione entering the chapel. She caught his eye and blushed slightly at his appreciative smile. Her father led her down the aisle; as ever, both he and his wife looked somewhat bemused at the world their daughter had ended up in.

The Elder conducting the service cleared his throat. "Harry, Hermione, I believe you have some words to say?"

The pair turned to face each other. Harry spoke first. "Hermione, everything good that's ever happened in my life happened after I met you. Falling in love with you was the easiest thing I've ever done. I don't know if things are going to be easy from now on but I do know that whatever happens, I want it to happen with you alongside me."

"Harry, you're my best friend. I've loved you nearly all my life and I thought that was a good thing to do. But now I'm in love with you and that's even better. Being your friend has brought me some of the happiest times of my life. And being your wife is going to make me happier still."

At a sign from the Elder, the pair gripped each other's forearm. The Elder gestured with his wand and a stream of light curled around their linked arms, tying them together.

Harry felt a surge of excitement in his stomach as he looked at her. "I, Harry James Potter, do hereby declare my intention to spend the rest of my life as the husband of Hermione Jean Weasley."

Hermione gave him the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen. "I, Hermione Jean Weasley, do hereby declare my intention to spend the rest of my life as the wife of Harry James Potter."

"Let you now be bonded for life,"the Elder intoned. "Let this bond tie your hearts together and enrich your lives and the lives of those around you."

The stream of light dissipated. Harry took his new wife in his arms and kissed her.


	2. Chapter 2: A Happy Reception

**Well, I got a few favourites and follows and my first review so thank you to those people! Hope everyone continues to enjoy reading this.**

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CHAPTER TWO: A Happy Reception

The Ministry ballroom was packed with people but Harry only had eyes for Hermione. The two of them were in the middle of the dance floor, arms wrapped around each other. "Have I mentioned how much I love being married to you?"Harry asked.

"It's only been two hours,"Hermione pointed out.

"And they've been wonderful."

Hermione smiled. "Yes, they have." She kissed him lightly, both of them losing themselves in each other's touch.

The sound of a throat being cleared caught their attention and they turned to find Luna standing right next to them. "There is a very old tradition that says the chief bridesmaid has to ask the bride groom to dance,"she announced.

"I've never heard of that tradition,"Hermione remarked in amusement.

"It's a very old tradition,"Luna insisted.

Hermione surrendered the point and stood aside, letting Harry take Luna in his arms. She considered asking Neville to dance, which would have been a nice bit of symmetry, but he was deep in discussion with Ernie and so she decided not to disturb them. She glanced around the rest of the room, seeing Seamus dancing with Hannah, her old housemates George, Oliver, Katie and Angelina having an animated conversation which she suspected was about Quidditch, Kingsley chatting with Hogwarts two senior staffmember Horace Slughorn and Filius Flitwick, and Arthur and her parents doing their best to confuse each other as much as possible comparing their respective worlds.

Then her gaze fell on Rose. Her daughter was dancing with Scorpius Malfoy, her guest for the wedding, who she seemed to be spending most of her time with these days both in and out of school. As Hermione watched, the pair's eyes locked and then Scorpius lowered his lips to hers. Hermione watched what she strongly suspected was her daughter's first kiss, waiting until they broke apart and smiled at each other with a combination of joy and embarrassment, before approaching them.

"Are you ready to go to your dad's?"she asked Rose.

Rose nodded. "Yep. All set. We'd have been going soon anyway." Ever since the split, Rose and Hugo had generally spent half their holiday with Harry and Hermione and the other half with Ron.

Hermione glanced at her daughter's boyfriend. "And what about you, Scorpius? Are you looking forward to going back to school?"

"Scorpius is going to be a prefect as well,"Rose said with clear pride.

Scorpius blushed slightly. "Congratulations,"Hermione told him. "Do you know who the other Slytherin prefect is?"

Rose laughed. "So long as it's not Zara Mills,"she commented, referring to the Slytherin girl who had been flirting with Scorpius the previous year. She noticed Scorpius avoiding her gaze and sighed. "Really? It's Zara Mills?"

"Well, my mum spoke to her mum during the holidays,"Scorpius explained,"and…yeah."

Hermione smiled more than was necessary to try and disperse the awkward atmosphere. "Good luck!"

Not far away, Martin Longbottom was watching one of the couples on the dance floor with far less satisfaction than Hermione had been. James was meant to be his best friend, yet for the last year he seemed to prefer the company of Martin's younger sister Emily. The fact that he was currently kissing her somewhat underlined why. "Do they have to do that?"Martin complained to Albus and Hugo, his default companions.

Albus glanced in the direction Martin was looking. "I think they enjoy it."

Martin wasn't impressed by the response. "You know she's a prefect next year?"

"So am I,"Albus answered simply.

"So's Rose,"put in Hugo, as if it was news to anyone.

"Yeah but you're going to be a cool prefect,"Martin told Albus, ignoring Hugo's comment because of its inconvenience. Rose was, if anything, even more of a stickler for rules than his sister. "Emily's going to be docking points off me soon as she can. Just you wait."

* * *

"You know, there are times when I wish we could do this the way Muggles do,"Harry remarked as he and Hermione walked hand in hand towards the floo network. "It'd be quite nice to have a chauffeur-driven limousine or a horse-drawn cart or something."

Hermione mulled the comment over. "Yes, that would be rather romantic. Still, we're doing it publicly rather than just apparating."

They turned the corner to find a large crowd waiting to say goodbye to them. "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Potter!"Neville announced, not for the first time. There was a round of applause probably designed to embarrass them both.

Hermione went over to where Rose and Hugo were stood with Arthur. "I'll keep an eye on them until Ron gets here,"Arthur noted.

"Thanks, Arthur,"Hermione replied gratefully before hugging her two children. "Don't worry, I'll be back to see you off to Hogwarts."

They both smiled at her. "Love you, Mum,"Rose told her. Hermione felt the gladness at the words. Of their children, Rose was the one who had taken the longest to accept her and Harry together. She hoped they were getting close again.

Harry was chatting with his own children. "You'll be okay round Neville and Luna's?"

"We'll be fine, Dad,"James told him.

"You will, you can kiss Emily,"Lily retorted in the way only a little sister could.

Harry noticed James and Emily blushing and Martin looking like he wanted to be sick. "Well, so long as you enjoy yourself,"he observed, getting out of the conversation as quickly as possible. He took Hermione's hand again and they stepped into a fireplace, giving a wave to their friends as they vanished in a spurt of green flame.


	3. Chapter 3: Honeymoon Interrupted

**A Merry Christmas to all readers! Unless you're reading this several months from now...**

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CHAPTER THREE: Honeymoon Interrupted

The cottage was about two miles from Hogsmeade and served as one of the most exclusive wizarding honeymoon destinations in the country. Only one couple could stay there at a time and the landlady was famous for being both accomodating and discreet. Harry and Hermione had travelled to the village via the floo network, since there was no connection with the actual cottage. They could have apparated the rest of the way but, since their luggage had been sent on ahead of them, they'd chosen to walk.

Hermione felt her heart skipping a beat as they saw it nestled amid the countryside. When it was just her and Harry alone together, there were times when she almost forgot the years of marriage and children that had happened since they first met. Instead she felt like a teenager in the first flush of romance.

"You like?"Harry asked.

Hermione looked at the countryside around them. "It's beautiful."

"So are you,"Harry answered.

Hermione blushed. "Thank you, Harry. You look very nice yourself."

The landlady, Mrs. Lyons, a kindly-looking middle-aged witch, came out to greet them. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter?"

Somehow, the casual way she said it made it seem all the special. "That's right,"Harry confirmed.

"I don't think we've had celebrities of your stature here before. Your bags have been put in the guest bedroom. My own quarters are at the opposite end. All services are available on request, silencing charms can be turned on and off as you wish." She gave them a welcoming smile. "Enjoy your stay."

Harry and Hermione linked hands and headed into the bedroom. Their things had been laid out and the antique bed looked emaculate. Hermione sighed. "It's just like I always imagined it. Thank you, Harry. The day has been perfect."

"Well, I think you had a hand in that as well."

"What did I do?"

"Well, for a start, you turned up."

Hermione blushed slightly. "You say the sweetest things." She went to the window and looked out. "It's funny, isn't it? We went to school not far from here yet I've never seen this countryside before."

"So, do you want to go for a walk before dinner?"Harry asked.

Hermione put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I don't think I'll want to go anywhere for quite a while."

Harry surrendered to the kiss and lowered her onto the bed.

* * *

Ron tried not to be bitter, for the children's sake if nothing else. The noble thing to do would be to be happy for Harry and Hermione. It wasn't like he'd been left with nothing. He had his job at the Ministry. He had two children who he saw just as much as Hermione did, since they divided school holidays between their two parents. He even had Parvati, his girlfriend. Their relationship was based more on the fact they enjoyed each other's company than anything deeper but it made them both happy. But what Harry and Hermione had together he lacked and probably always would.

Rose and Hugo had been quiet when they picked them up. It had been Parvati who'd realised that they didn't want Ron to know they'd enjoyed the wedding. So together they'd coaxed the pair into talking about it, more for their own sake than anyone else's.

Hugo had already retired to bed but Rose was still talking about the day. "Let you now be bonded for life,"she recalled. "I don't get that. Because it isn't always for life, is it? Does the spell not work sometimes?"

It was a subject a bit too close to home for Ron to be discussing with his daughter. Parvati came to his rescue. "Only the Elders really understand it. That's why they're the only ones that can make and break marriage bonds. They can tell if a bond can be broken or if the couple are still bonded."

Rose nodded thoughtfully. "I'll see if there's any books on it when I get back to Hogwarts." She gave a sudden yawn. "And I think that means I should go to bed." She kissed Ron on the cheek. "Night, Dad."

"Night, Rose."

Parvati waited until Rose had gone upstairs before looking at Ron. "Ron…do you mind if I ask what happened when you and Hermione had your marriage bond broken? It's just it's something the Department of Mysteries have been trying to understand."

"They said that Hermione was in love with someone else,"Ron answered. Parvati had the good courtesy to look embarrassed. Ron sighed. "Apparently it's really easy to break the bond when that happens."

* * *

Harry woke up alone. It was still dark outside which made his new wife's absence from their bed even more surprising. In the year and a half since they'd got together, he'd become used to sharing a bed with Hermione. Waking up alone was an unusual enough sensation that he got out of bed to look for her.

He headed through into the small living room of the cottage and saw Hermione sitting in an armchair with her back to him. He walked up behind her and kissed her on the top of the head. "I wondered where you…"

She sprang up out of the chair, whirling round to face him, backing up against the opposite wall as though she wanted to get as far away from him as possible. As though she was afraid of him. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

Harry was bewildered by her response. "Hermione, it's me."

"Why are you calling me that? It's not my name."

Harry was even more confused but he could feel a mounting worry. "What is it then?"

"It's…" Hermione stopped, her eyes widening in fear and panic. "I don't know. I can't remember what my name is. I can't remember anything about myself!"


	4. Chapter 4: The Future Erased

**Well, I got another review and follow so welcome and thank you to that person! Hope everyone continues to read and enjoy.**

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CHAPTER FOUR: The Future Erased

Harry sat in the corridor of St. Mungo's. Hermione had been in such a state that he'd felt that transporting her there by magic would send her over the edge. Instead, he'd left Mrs. Lyons to look after her while he contacted the healers by floo network, convincing them to send a Muggle vehicle – or at least something that resembled one – to pick her up. Then it had been a question of distracting her so she wouldn't notice them travelling four hundred miles in under ten minutes.

He heard running footsteps and turned to find a large group of teenagers running towards him: James, Albus, Lily, Rose, Hugo, Martin and Emily. Ron, Neville and Luna were walking behind them at a more sedate pace. "What's going on, Dad?"James asked. "What's happened to Hermione?"

"The healers are still looking at her,"Harry explained.

"But she's going to be all right, isn't she?"Lily asked, sounding desperate. "She's got to be! She can't leave us!"

"What do you mean 'us'?"Rose snapped. "She's not _your_ mum."

"She is now!"Lily answered, close to tears.

The declaration shocked Harry, like a sucker punch to the stomach. Lily had been in her first year at Hogwarts when Ginny died, she'd had to make it through the most difficult time in a girl's life without a mother. And he'd given her another one, one who she now might lose as well.

Albus put an arm round his sister's shoulder and glared hard at Rose, while slipping his other arm round Hugo. To her credit, Rose looked contrite. "I'm sorry. I know you love her too."

"There's no point us all yelling at each other,"Albus agreed. "We're on the same side here."

"Why don't you kids go and get yourself some breakfast?"Neville suggested. "We'll tell you when there's news." There was a few murmurs of assent and the youngsters began filing in the direction of the canteen. Neville stopped Martin and Emily as they came past him. "Keep an eye on them,"he said quietly and his two children nodded in agreement.

"What happened, Harry?"Ron asked. There was a note of accusation in his tone, as if he blamed Harry for the fact that his family was being hurt again.

"Harry?"Neville prompted, more gently.

"She couldn't remember me, Neville,"Harry answered. "She couldn't even remember who she was. Nothing. She thinks we're all strangers."

"And you've no idea how it happened?"Ron persisted.

"I was asleep,"Harry said, cursing himself for the fact. One night with Hermione as his wife and he hadn't even been able to protect her that long.

Luna cocked her head on one side, looking at him closely. "You're very worried, aren't you?"

"Why do you say that?"Harry asked.

"Because you're not shouting at everyone. You'd never let Ron talk to you like that normally."

Her bluntness, and Ron's embarrassed look, almost made Harry smile. "You're probably right."

"Was it the ammites?"

Harry had no idea what she was talking about. "Probably not."

At that moment, the healer, Madame Manoharan, appeared. "Mr. Potter?"

Harry got up. "Yes?"

"You'd better come with me."

* * *

"What's wrong?"Harry asked once they were alone.

"Your wife has been subjected to one of the most extreme memory erasure spells I've ever come across. It's erased everything personal. She doesn't remember her name, her life, anyone that she's met. She doesn't even remember magic."

Harry nodded. "Hermione's muggleborn, she didn't know anything about magic until she got the letter from Hogwarts. Guess that comes under personal."

"That would explain it,"Madame Manoharan confirmed.

"So what can you do?"Harry asked.

"I'm afraid…very little. Memory erasure spells are notoriously difficult to reverse. There'd be no point casting them otherwise. Sometimes the spellcaster introduces some loophole so they personally can restore the memories. And there has been a lot of research into healing techniques but…nothing definite. Not at the moment. The only good news I have for you is that there's been no damage to the parts of her brain that form new memories. She remembers everything that's happened since you found her and should continue to do so."

"When can I see her?"

"Right now."

* * *

Harry entered the private room where Hermione was resting. She'd changed into a gown and was sat in bed. He approached her cautiously. "Hermione?"

She nodded. "It seems that is my name, yes. I'm sorry, I don't know who you are."

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." He took a deep breath. "Your husband."

She looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. "Well, I suppose that would make sense. So that makes me…Hermione Potter?"

"Yes. Ring any bells?" Hermione shook her head. "Well, you haven't been using it for long."

Hermione was confused. "What do you mean?"

"We only got married yesterday." Harry could see she was in danger of being overwhelmed. "What about Hermione Grainger? That was your maiden name. Or Hermione Weasley, that was your first married name."

"I've been married before?"Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes. You've got two children, Rose and Hugo. I've got three children. My first wife died two years ago, around the time your marriage broke up, and we got together, we've known each other since we were at school, you were my best friend…" He stopped, seeing Hermione was on the verge of panic again. "Sorry, this is too much."

"Do you know what happened to me?"

Harry chose his words carefully. "We think you were…attacked, at our honeymoon cottage, and that's why this happened."

"Can those doctors do anything?"

"No. No. They say you might never remember."


	5. Chapter 5: Magical Revelation

**Thank you for the review!**

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CHAPTER FIVE: Magical Revelation

Rose sat alone in the otherwise empty canteen, a hot drink in her hands. The other children had slipped into groups comforting each other elsewhere on the hospital grounds: Albus with Lily and Hugo, James with Martin and Emily. Her dad had done his best for her, like he always did, but even that hadn't been enough. She'd always felt closer to her parents than to her brother and cousins, which was perhaps why she'd had such a hard time handling their separation. The last summer was the first time she'd been close to her mother in over a year and now…

"Rose?"

She looked up in surprise at the voice and found herself face to face with Scorpius. Her…well, her boyfriend, she supposed, not that either of them had been comfortable enough to admit that. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "How did you know?"

"Your dad flooed my place. Said you might need a friend."

For a moment, Rose was surprised. Ron had never been entirely happy about her befriending a Malfoy. Then she remembered that he'd always known what to do to make her happy. "He was right,"she said quietly.

Scorpius sat down opposite her and took her hands. "I wish I could say something that could make it better."

"You being here makes it better." Rose shook her head. "I'm just scared that she won't ever remember me."

James came in and stopped a short distance away. Rose reflected that he was like her in a way. Being the oldest child in their respective families had caused them to distance themselves from the others, as a result of which they'd never really been close to anyone their own age until they'd met Scorpius and Emily, although at least James had always had Martin as his best friend. And, ironically, he'd always been a bit protective of her, maybe because there was no-one else who would be. But whereas she'd always been close to her parents, he'd always had a tempestuous relationship with his. Until Ginny died. She knew he regretted the fact they hadn't been close at the time. It made her relieved that she and Hermione were on good terms. Then she checked herself. Hermione wasn't dead. Whatever happened, she was better off than James.

"I just wanted to see if you were all right,"James explained.

Rose nodded. "I am now."

James looked at Scorpius and she knew that he understood. "I'll see you later then."

* * *

"What treatments can you offer?"Harry asked Manoharan as they walked through the corridors.

"In terms of improving patients' condition, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do,"Manoharan answered. "We can, of course, offer full care for those afflicted."

"Hermione doesn't need a carer,"Harry protested. "She's lost her memory, that doesn't mean she can't look after herself."

"She's lucky that you believe that. And, of course, she's lucky that her memory is still functioning normally. In some cases, the damage is permanent."

"Hey, you there!"a superior-sounding voice called out suddenly.

Harry turned to face the caller and looked in shock as he realised who it was. "Lockhart."

Gilderoy Lockhart, once Harry's Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, came striding down the corridor towards him, an imperious look on his face. "You there! Young man. Do you know who I am?"

"Yes,"Harry answered.

"Good." Lockhart's expression suddenly changed to one of childlike puzzlement. "Could you tell me?"

One of the nurses appeared. "This way, Mr. Lockhart. You know you shouldn't be out of bed."

"What?" Lockhart allowed himself to be led away. "Yes, of course. I'm an important man, I need my rest."

"One of our most extreme cases,"Manoharan explained once Lockhart was out of earshot. "He's been here for nearly thirty years and we've never been able to do anything for him. We had hope a few months back…"

Harry turned to her, suddenly interested. "Why, what happened?"

"A research spellcaster, Harriet Kenwood, attempted to find a way to cure him. She claimed she was making some progress but then…"

"Where is she?"

"She's a patient here. We found her with her memory erased. Just like your wife."

Harry sensed there was more to the story but his thoughts were slipping back to Lockhart, the failed hero who had received adoration for taking the claim for others' successes, wiping their memories to prevent them contradicting him, and to what the last thirty years of his life had been. It was when Lockhart had tried to use one of his memory charms on Harry and Ron that it had backfired, erasing his memory. And with it, he'd lost everything: No adoring fans, no friends or family. Just a lonely hospital bed.

But Hermione wasn't like that. She had friends and family, people that loved her. People that loved the real her, not some fake image. And even if she never remembered that, never accepted him as friend or family, Harry was determined she was never going to end up like Lockhart.

* * *

Harry re-entered the room where Hermione was resting. "Hermione, I need to tell you something."

Hermione looked at him cautiously. "This sounds like bad news."

"Not bad news exactly. But it's something you might find…" – Harry struggled to find the least threatening word possible – "…confusing."

"I don't remember anything so I'm not sure what else could confuse me."

"You're a witch."

Hermione, as predicted, looked confused. "I…dance around a fire chanting?"

"No, you're an actual witch. You can do magic. There's a school, a special school, which teaches children to use magic, it's where we met. There are lots of families made up of witches and wizards but sometimes there's a child born to a non-magic family who can do magic. You were one, my mother was another."

Hermione shook her head. "You're making this up."

Harry took out his wand. There was a jug of water and an empty cup next to Hermione's bed. "Wingardium leviosa." The cup levitated in the air. Harry manoeuvred it round so it floated in front of Hermione.

Hermione stared at it in disbelief. "It's a trick."

"How? There's no wires or magnets. You can even take it."

Hermione reached out and grasped the cup, turning it over in her hand as if trying to work out another explanation. Finally, she looked at Harry. "It's true?"

Harry nodded. "Levitation Charm. One of the easiest spells. You want to try it?" Hermione nodded cautiously. Harry took out the wand he'd retrieved from the honeymoon cottage. "This is your wand. No-one really understands it except wandmakers but wands are loyal to their owners. You do your best magic with your own wand."

Hermione took the wand and pointed it at the cup. "Wingardium leviosa,"she stated. Nothing happened. "See, I can't do it."

"You can't do it because you believe you can't do it,"Harry insisted. "You were the first person in our class to master it!" He saw she was starting to look nervous and put his hand on hers. Then he realised that was too intimate a gesture and took it away again. "I'm sorry. Look, I think I can talk the healers into letting you come home with me. Would you be all right with that?"

Hermione thought for a moment, then nodded.


	6. Chapter 6: Still Life

**Thank you for the review!**

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CHAPTER SIX: Still Life

Hermione looked at the group of children gathered around her bed. Luna was standing by the door at the rear of the group, keeping an eye on things. Hermione had been told they were worried and, despite not remembering any of them, felt that she should do her best to reassure them.

She looked at the two on her left, an older girl and a boy in his very early teens. They fitted the few facts she'd managed to glean from Harry's description of her children. "You're Rose and Hugo, right?"

The pair nodded awkwardly. "How are you, Mum?"Rose asked.

"I'm fine, thank you."

Hugo looked at her closely. "You don't remember us, do you?"

Hermione sighed. She held out her hand and Hugo took it. "No, sweetie, I'm afraid I don't. I wish I did. But I'd like the chance to get to know you." She looked at the three children on her right. "You're Harry's children, I take it?"

The older of the two boys nodded. "I'm James, that's Albus and Lily."

"Are you still going to be living with us?"Lily asked.

Hermione did her best to give the girl a reassuring smile. "Well, your dad's asked me to come home and I've said yes so…I suppose so."

"You'll be all right,"Luna remarked airily.

* * *

Harry was waiting in an office. He'd asked Ron and Neville to join him. He wasn't really sure why, moral support probably. "Who's this guy we're meant to be meeting?" Neville asked.

"I don't know,"Harry replied. "According to Madame Manoharan, he was the assistant of the witch who was working on reversing memory charms."

They all turned to the door as a man entered. Harry stared at him for a moment, sure he'd seen the face before but unable to place it, then it struck him. "Zacharias Smith?!" Harry hadn't seen his old classmate since he'd fled Hogwarts prior to Voldemort's attack, not the most impressive of last views.

Zacharias nodded. "Potter. Weasley. Longbottom."

"You were Harriet Kenwood's assistant?"Ron asked incredulously.

"I was her herbology adviser,"Zacharias corrected. "I provided her with the information she needed about the herbs she needed for the potions side of her research. The magic side she kept to herself."

Harry felt his disappointing mounting. The sight of Zacharias had caused most of his hopes to evaporate and his present revelation was even worse. "So there's no way of reviving her research?"

"Not that I know of. A shame. I could have done with the prestige of being involved in a find like that."

Harry bit back the retort he'd been planning to give. Zacharias had always been obnoxious, there was no point taking out his frustrations on him. "All right, thanks for your help."

"So what do we do now?"Ron asked once the three of them had been left alone again.

Harry turned to Neville. "Don't suppose there's any chance you can pick up where Zacharias left off."

"By the sound of things, there's a whole different side to it he knew nothing about. I can try and work out what she was doing with the ingredients but without knowing how they were applied it could be dangerous."

Harry nodded. He'd been expecting that answer. "Then I guess we're left dealing with the same situation as before. Accepting Hermione as she is."

* * *

"Why do we have to come back here?"Lily complained as she, James and Albus filed into the Longbottoms' house with their now apparently long-term hosts.

"It's going to be hard enough for Dad looking after Aunt Hermione,"Albus pointed out. "He doesn't want us getting in the way."

"But we're supposed to be a family,"Lily protested. "She's meant to be part of our family now."

"Rose and Hugo had to go home with Uncle Ron as well,"James reminded her. "It's not like we're being singled out."

Lily continued to pout. "It's still not fair."

"You should probably go and look up your work for third year,"Luna remarked. "You never know what might come in useful."

Lily looked at her as if trying to work out if she was being giving a secret message then ran upstairs.

"Do you know something we don't?"Neville asked her.

Luna shook her head. "I just thought it might help if I sounded as though I did."

James, Martin and Emily drifted off towards the front room as Albus followed Lily upstairs. "You want to have a game of wizard warcraft?"Martin asked.

Emily glared at him. "Considering how you did on your OWLs, you could probably do with looking up your work for next year as well."

Martin raised an eyebrow. "You sounded scarily like Rose there."

"Wizard warcraft sounds like a good idea,"James agreed.

* * *

Harry cautiously ushered Hermione into the house. She stood in the large hallway, looking up the stairs and in the direction of the various rooms with some consternation. "This is where we live?"

Harry nodded. "We moved in about a year ago. We bought it a few months after we got together." He knew deep down that he shouldn't expect a response but he couldn't help hoping for a sign her memories were coming back. Instead, she just nodded politely. "We still own my old house, it's used as a meeting place for…a society we belong to." He decided that telling her about the Order of the Phoenix would require too long a conversation at this juncture.

"I'm sorry,"Hermione sighed,"I don't remember any of this."

Harry tried not to let his disappointment show. "We'll put your things in our bedroom, it'll be best if you're around familiar things. I'll sleep in the guest room."

Hermione lowered her gaze awkwardly. "I'm sorry to be putting you to so much trouble."

Harry wanted to hug her, or even just touch her arm, but he knew that any sort of physical intimacy might be too much for her to handle at that point. "It's no trouble,"he said gently. "I want you to be here." She raised her eyes to meet his and gave a grateful smile. "Come on. I'll show you the way."


	7. Chapter 7: Rituals

**Well, I've picked up another follower since the last chapter so welcome aboard to that person, hope you stick around.**

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CHAPTER SEVEN: Rituals

Harry brought the car to a halt outside the station and climbed out before going round to the passenger side and opening Hermione's door for her. "Come on,"he told her encouragingly.

Hermione looked towards the station nervously. "Are you sure we should do this? Everyone's going to be looking at me or they're going to talk to me and I'll have no idea who they are."

"We always see the children off at the start of the school year,"Harry explained. "They'll get upset if you're not there."

Hermione sighed. "Have you always been this good at emotional blackmail?"

"No, I just learned recently."

Reluctantly, Hermione got out of the car and followed him towards King's Cross. "So what platform is it?"

Harry gave a slight smile. "9¾."

Hermione gave him the incredulous look that he'd seen quite a lot of the last few days. "What?"

Harry gestured to the walkway between Platforms 9 and 10. "See that barrier there? We walk through that and we find ourselves on the platform. It's hidden from non-magical people." He saw from her look that she wasn't entirely convinced. "We can go through it together if you like."

He felt Hermione's hand grasp his and his heart fluttered slightly at the contact. The last few days, anything approaching physical intimacy had been removed from their relationship, much of it spent filling her in on the basics of the magical world and their family history. To hold her hand again felt like a special privilege. Even if she did release it as soon as they'd stepped through the barrier.

Harry looked around the platform, seeing parents that he remembered from school, children he remembered from previous years. A few of them, mostly first years, stopped and looked at the pair when they noticed them.

"I told you,"Hermione complained. "They're all looking at us."

"Yes,"Harry conceeded. "But not because of that." He sighed. "I should probably have mentioned it before. We're war heroes."

Hermione had the look of someone who felt that her life made less sense the more she found out about it. "We're what?"

"War heroes. You, me, Ron, Neville, Luna, quite a few of our year. About twenty-five years ago, when we were at school, a dark wizard called Voldemort took over the country. He attacked the school with his army, we made a stand against him – the staff and the older students and a few others who were still on our side – and he was killed in the battle, his movement collapsed." Harry decided that was enough information for the moment.

It was at that moment that they caught sight of James, Albus, Lily, Rose, Hugo, Martin and Emily, who were all standing with Ron, Neville and Luna. The children caught sight of them and hurried over. Lily hugged Harry. "Hi, Dad,"she greeted him. She turned to Hermione and hesitated. "Um, hi."

Hermione drew the girl into a hug. The moment broke the ice and Rose and Hugo hugged her as well. "I feel like I should be giving you some motherly advice at the moment, like study hard or eat properly or something."

Rose smiled at her. "That's what you usually say. We'll do it anyway this time."

James had been glancing in the direction of the train during the conversation. "They're about to set off."

"Can't be late now we're prefects,"Albus reminded Rose.

Rose's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh gosh, I'd nearly forgotten!" She and Albus ran to the train.

"You want to get a carriage together?"James asked Emily. "I can give you tips on your OWLs."

"In case I want to get four Es, three As and a couple of Ps as well?" Emily asked teasingly.

"I got an O in Muggle Studies,"James protested.

"Do you remember what results I got?"Martin asked his sister suspiciously.

Emily blushed slightly. "I need to go to the prefects' carriage with them anyway. But save me a seat!" She rushed off.

James and Martin looked round at Lily and Hugo, who were looking at them expectantly. James sighed. "Okay, let's all find a carriage."

The adults were left standing on the platform alone. "Are you sure my being here made a difference?" Hermione asked.

Before Harry could say anything, Ron answered her. "Trust me. It did."

* * *

Rose, Albus and Emily made their way towards the prefect carriage. Scorpius was already there, sitting with Zara and the other Slytherin prefects, but as soon as he saw his friends enter he got up and went over to Rose to hug her. "How are you?"

Rose shrugged. "Getting there."

"And your mum?"

It was Albus who answered. "She still doesn't remember anything. But she's back home and Dad says she's coping."

Scorpius continued to address his comment to Rose. "Well, that's good, right?"

"Ahem?" The group turned towards the Head Boy and Girl, Ravi Kapoor and Mary Brown, both of whom the teens knew as members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. "If we could get started?"Ravi asked.

Rose nodded. "Yes, sorry." The group sat down. Scorpius continued to hold Rose's hand, ignoring the glares Zara was shooting in his direction.

* * *

Harry had had a hard time convincing Hermione to stay at home. He had taken leave from work to deal with her convalescence so there was no point pretending he was going there. In the end, he'd told her he had some errands to run. He hadn't felt like revealing the truth to her: He had called a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix, at their headquarters of Grimmauld Place.

Harry glanced an eye over the assembled group: Ron, George and their brother Percy; Luna; Seamus and Hannah; Oliver, Katie and Angelina; Teddy and Victoire; Cho Chang and Michael Corner; Parvati and Padma; and Gabrielle Delacourt. Aside from Hermione, the only absentees were Neville and Ernie, who were busy getting ready for the welcome ceremony at Hogwarts.

"We heard about Hermione,"Seamus confirmed, breaking the awkward silence. "How is she?"

"Healers say there's no way they can restore her memory,"Harry said. "I'm not going to accept that."

"Do you think it's the Death Eaters?"Teddy asked.

"The ones that escaped from Azkaban?"Hannah amended as if clarification were necessary.

Harry had considered if there was a connection with the fact that Lucius Malfoy and six other prisoners had escaped from Azkaban a few months earlier. All of them were still missing, along with Pansy Parkinson, who had worked with Draco Malfoy to facilitate the escape. "It's the sort of twisted revenge they'd come up with,"he confirmed.

"Well, we'll all keep an eye out for them,"George noted. "But we've been doing that already."

"There's something new this time,"Luna stated.

Everyone looked at her. "What?"Cho asked.

"The memory wipes."

"Yeah, that witch,"Ron agreed. "Harriet Kenwood. Someone wiped her memory too. What's all that about?"

"I've been thinking about that,"Harry considered. "And I've got an idea. Madame Manoharan said that she was on the verge of coming up with a way to restore erased memories. What if she succeeded?"

"Then Hermione would have been cured straightaway,"Padma concluded.

Next to her, Parvati's eyes widened in realisation. "So someone erased her memory as well so she couldn't cure Hermione!"

Seamus considered this carefully. "So what we're saying is that if we restore her memory she could tell us how to restore memories?"

"I was just thinking that,"George agreed.

"It gives us something else to work on,"Harry answered. "Because we are going to find the person responsible for this."


	8. Chapter 8: We Begin Again

**Thank you for the favourite and review!**

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CHAPTER EIGHT: We Begin Again

The Sorting Ceremony had passed in a bit of a blur. James had remembered to cheer every time someone was announced as joining Gryffindor and applaud the new students from the other houses politely, but his thoughts were distracted by the situation at home. Albus, Rose, Lily and Hugo were all unnaturally quiet, which was especially noticeable in the case of Lily, who was usually talking nineteen to the dozen. Even Martin seemed to sense his housemates' discomfort and was keeping quiet.

Finally, the time came for Slughorn to address the school. "Well, I'm sure we'll all give the new students a warm welcome. Your house prefects will be escorting you to your new dormitories later. A few matters of business before the feast begins. We have two new members of staff joining us for this year. Our new Muggle Studies teacher, who will be doubling as the Head of Slytherin, is Professor Marlon Fletcher." He gestured to a dark-haired, middle-aged gentleman, whose presence was greeted by cheers from the Slytherin table and polite mumblings from everyone else. "And our new Potions Mistress, Professor Crystella Mariotte." Martin raised his hand. "Yes, Longbottom?"

"Is she evil?"Martin asked. Crystella looked slightly put out by the comment, while Neville, sat at the top table with the other teachers, cringed slightly. "Our last Potions Mistress was evil,"Martin explained helpfully, for the benefit of anyone new to the school.

Slughorn coughed awkwardly. "Ah yes, Professor Havelock. Or should I say Miss Parkinson. Trust me, our checks have become far more rigorous since that incident. Isn't that so, Professor Mariotte?"

"Very true, Professor Slughorn,"Mariotte agreed, her tone slightly strained.

"So, you can all begin the feast in safety,"Slughorn concluded with a laugh, taking his seat with a signal for everyone to begin.

"Nice icebreaker,"Albus commented.

Rose shook her head. "Honestly, Martin, that poor woman."

Martin looked innocent and leaned over to speak to James. "I asked Damon Willis about quidditch tryouts. You reckon we'll get back in?"

"Same team probably,"James confirmed. He and Martin had been Gryffindor's beaters for the last four years. It wasn't the most glamorous position but he was quite proud they'd made it their own.

"Timothy's left,"Albus pointed out. "We'll need a new Chaser. You going to try out, Lily?"

Lily still looked downcast. "I don't know."

"You were reserve last year, you'd probably be a shoo-in."

Lily just shrugged. "I'll think about it."

* * *

Harry stepped into the house and waited in the hallway. Quite often these days, he was unsure what would await him when he got home. Hermione had become used to him in the short time she could remember but she was still far from being ready to fill the role of a wife or even a close friend. "Hermione?"he called. "Are you here?"

Hermione emerged from the living area holding a copy of the Daily Prophet. "What is this?"she demanded, sounding angry.

"It's the wizarding world's newspaper,"Harry explained. "Where did you get it from?"

"An owl dropped it off while you were out and I wasn't talking about the weird delivery service or magic photographs. I meant this article. 'Hermione Potter, the new wife of Chosen One Harry, has been stricken with a powerful Memory Charm. The Auror Department have refused to answer questions about whether it is connected with the recent breakout from Azkaban.' What is all this? What's a Memory Charm? What's Azkaban, some sort of prison? What's really happened to me? Some sort of spell gone wrong?" Something seemed to occur to her for the first time. "Did you do this to me?"

"No,"Harry insisted desperately. Hermione continued to look at him suspiciously but she didn't argue. He hoped it was a sign that she trusted him, just a bit. "This morning I went to talk to the Order of the Phoenix. To ask them for help. We're…we're kind of like the Avengers."

Hermione looked confused. "As in Steed and Mrs. Peel?"

"As in Captain America and Iron Man. But Steed and Mrs. Peel is good too. Hermione, there's a lot I haven't told you. About what happened twenty-five years ago, about what happened forty years ago, about what's happened this last couple of years."

"Just answer me one thing. Did someone do this to me?"

Harry hesitated then nodded. "Yes."

* * *

After that, he told her everything, starting with the prophecy that he and Voldemort would fight to the death and the night Voldemort had murdered his parents, going through their adventures at Hogwarts and Voldemort's return to power, ending with the attempt to revive Voldemort by a group of his old followers, the deaths of Ginny and so many others of their friends, and the escape from custody of some of the conspirators. Hermione listened to it all, asking occasional questions but mostly staying silent. When he had finished, she leaned over and took his hand. "Harry, I'm so sorry."

It was the sort of thing you'd say to a new friend who turned out to have a tragic past. A part of him quite liked it. "You were there with me."

"But it sounds like you lost a lot more than I did." She sighed. "Including me."

"I haven't lost you. Have I?" Harry felt Hermione pull her hand away and realised the comment could be misinterpreted. "I mean, you're not going anywhere, are you?"

Hermione relaxed slightly, smiling and shaking her head. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You're the one that's lost all these memories, that's worse than anything that's happened to me. At least I remember all those people, even my parents up to a point…"

"It's scary,"Hermione admitted. "I'm trying to make sense of this life. Part of me just wants to curl up into a ball and cry. And what you've just told me makes me even more scared. But I want to beat this." She lapsed into silence. "I want to learn magic,"she said suddenly.

Harry was startled by the comment. "Are you sure?"

"If this Malfoy or whoever else turns up again, I want to be ready for them."

Harry nodded nervously. "Okay."

* * *

He got her wand and a feather and sat them up in front of her. She looked at both objects uncertainly, as if worried they were going to bite her. "Wingardium leviosa,"he reminded her.

Hermione didn't seem convinced. "Are you sure I can do this?"

"You have done for the last thirty years." Harry stepped up behind her. "Do you mind?" She shook her head. Harry took her wand arm by the wrist and guided it in the wand movements necessary for the spell. "Just a simple gesture and intone the incantation."

Hermione sighed and repeated the gesture he'd shown her. "Wingardium leviosa,"she said, sounding slightly bored. The feather stayed stubbornly still. "Are you sure I can do this?"

"Every student in our class mastered it in the first month. Even the really thick ones. You mastered it in the first lesson."

"Well, maybe I should re-enroll at Hogwarts and learn magic there. Be in classes with Rose and Hugo."

"They learned how to do this years ago. Just concentrate on the gesture and saying the incantation correctly. You can do it, I know you can."

Hermione took a deep breath. "Wingardium leviosa." Suddenly, the wand was floating. Hermione's eyes widened in shock and delight. "Oh my god, I did it!" She flung her arms round Harry.

Harry wanted to hold her tight, drinking in the first intimate contact they'd had since she lost her memory. But he knew that would scare her. So he restrained himself, holding her lightly, like a friend or casual acquaintance.

Hermione pulled back, seeming to sense his discomfort. She brushed a hair behind her ear, blushing slightly. "So, what do we practise next then?"

But he found himself wondering if maybe, just maybe, she'd felt something too.


	9. Chapter 9: Unexpected Guests

**I picked up a few more reviews and followers so thank you to those people!**

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CHAPTER NINE: Unexpected Guests

James and Martin were sat in the Hogwarts greenhouse along with several other students. "Why did we choose to take Herbology?"Martin complained.

"Because your dad takes the lesson,"James answered.

"Well, that's not going to help us. Dad's so fair he'll probably mark us down so he doesn't show favouritism."

James looked at him and spoke slowly. "Your dad takes the lesson. That means you should be good at it."

"Oh."

"Plus it's about the only subject we both got passing grades in."

The pair fell silent as Neville entered with another man. "So, you've all got good enough grades in Herbology to continue to NEWT level,"Neville concluded. "Well done. But before we get down to things, I'd like to introduce my new teaching assistant for this year, Zacharias Smith."

James swung round to look at the man when he heard the name. "You're that researcher, aren't you? My dad told me about you."

Zacharias looked at Neville. "Is this your son?"

"No,"Neville said quietly. "This is James Potter, Harry's eldest."

"Ah. Right." Zacharias looked uncomfortable. "Sorry I couldn't help your stepmother but as I told your father all I did was provide Madame Kenwood with ingredients. I've no idea what she did with them. But I can promise you that I'm perfectly qualified to help out with this class."

"Mr Smith will be available during lessons to provide advice and assistance,"Neville confirmed. "But first, gather round the tray here. I want to show you some dragwood."

* * *

Hermione came downstairs, smoothing down her dress and pulling a jacket on around her shoulders. "How do I look?"she asked.

"You look fine,"Harry assured her with a smile.

"Are you sure this is going to be all right?"

"They'll be glad to see you. You probably won't need a coat though. We're not going outside."

Hermione looked confused. "Then how do we get there?" Harry produced a wand. "Oh, I see. Magic again."

"Hold onto my arm and I'll side-along Apparate you. Unless you fancy having a go yourself?"

Hermione took his arm. "I really don't think I'm ready to try that yet."

Harry cast the spell and suddenly they were standing in a different hallway, in another house. Luna appeared, smiling brightly. "Hello, Harry. Hello, Hermione. Do you remember me yet?"

Hermione was momentarily taken aback by the directness of the question. "Well, I remember you from the hospital and the station but I don't remember anything before that."

"Well, that's something. Should I take your coat?"

Hermione nodded slowly. Luna flicked her wand and Hermione's jacket vanished from her shoulders. Hermione blinked. "Did you just desintegrate my coat?"

Luna looked bemused. "No, it's hanging up in the cupboard. But I can desintegrate it if you like."

"No, that's fine." Hermione leaned over to Harry. "Is she always like this?"

Harry nodded.

"I wanted to cook you some black-eyed droobs,"Luna continued as she led them through into the dining room. "But the butcher didn't have any so we're having lamb instead."

Hermione looked at Harry, who gave her a don't-ask look.

Neville appeared in the floo network as they entered the room. Hermione gave a slight double take at his method of appearance but decided not to comment on it since everyone else treated his entrance like normal. Neville greeted Luna with a kiss, before shaking Harry's hand and giving Hermione a hug. "Sorry I'm a bit late. Had to make sure the students were settled before coming home."

"Anything to report on our lot?"Harry asked.

"James has picked up on Zacharias."

Harry winced. "I hope they don't try and get involved again."

"Who's Zacharias?"Hermione asked.

"He's very rude,"Luna answered.

"He used to work for someone who was attacked in the same way as you,"Harry explained. "I asked Neville to get him a job at Hogwart's so we could keep an eye on him."

"Why?"Hermione asked. "Do you think he's involved?"

"No, but strange as it might seem he's our best asset at the moment. And I really don't want him suddenly ending up with his memory erased as well. He's just about the only chance we've got of getting to the bottom of all this."


	10. Chapter 10: Sisters

CHAPTER TEN: Sisters

The third year Care of Magical Creatures class were sat at tables in a large shack, a curious looking creature in front of each of them. "Flobberworms!"Hagrid said impressively, although they weren't very impressive. "The simplest of magic creatures. Completely harmless, which is good. Keep an eye on them and feed them. Not too much though. Don't feed them too much. That's awkward."

Hugo was sitting next to Lily. He placed a lettuce leaf near one end of the flobberworm and smiled slightly as it ate it. "Look, Lily!"

Lily didn't look. She just continued to stare at her own flobberworm, not really attempting anything.

Hagrid seemed to notice her behaviour and came over. "What's up, young Lily? You're usually the first one to be getting involved in things."

"I'm just going to watch it,"Lily said quietly.

Hagrid opened his mouth to say something, couldn't think of anything and closed it again. "Right,"he said at last. "Right."

* * *

Rose paused outside Hagrid's shack, composed herself and knocked. "Come in!"came his familiar bellow.

Rose stepped inside and looked around. She knew most of her cousins spent a fair amount of time there but she had always been only an infrequent visitor. She saw Hagrid pottering about the single downstairs room, seeming oblivious to her presence. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"

Hagrid stopped, blinked and looked about. Then his face cleared. "Oh, you meant me when you said 'Professor'? I thought Slughorn was in here for a moment. Sit yerself down." Hagrid settled into a comfy chair, gesturing for an uncomfortable Rose to do the same. "It's about young Lily."

Rose nodded. "What about her?"

"I think she needs someone to talk to."

It took Rose a second to understand Hagrid's meaning. "Me? Wouldn't you rather ask Albus?"

"Nope. Has to be you. Did you want some tea?" Hagrid made to head to the stove but when Rose shook her head he sat back down again. "Girls that age, they need their mothers. If their mothers aren't around, well, then they need someone. What's happened to your mum, that's affected Lily a lot. I know it's affected you but Lily's been there before, when your Aunt Ginny died. I think she needs to talk to someone about it. And I think that's you."

* * *

Rose found Lily sitting in the Gryffindor common room. She took a deep breath then took a seat nearby. "Are you all right?"

Lily glanced in her direction and shrugged.

"I'm sorry about what I said at the hospital. Of course you're going to be worried about Mum. And I get that she's your mum too now. You probably see her more than me."

Lily looked up, slightly worried. "I don't mean to."

Rose shook her head. "It's all right. I'm not saying that you're better off than me. I miss Aunt Ginny." She saw Lily's eyes tear and took the younger girl's hand. "I just want you to know that…whatever happens with Mum, we're going to be a family. And I know I'm not the best big sister in the world…"

Lily smiled. "You're all right."

* * *

"Where is she?"Ron asked.

"She's waiting outside,"Harry answered. He looked at Ron awkwardly. While they certainly weren't enemies, he had a feeling they couldn't quite be classed as friends. Not anymore. "Thanks for doing this."

"I'm not doing it for you,"Ron replied bluntly.

Harry nodded, accepting the dismissal. He couldn't really object to Ron's attitude. "I'll leave you two alone."

Ron was left alone for a minute, then Hermione entered the house. She paused in the hallway. "Harry tells me that I lived here for a long time. Longer than I've lived in our place."

"All the time we were married,"Ron answered.

"I wondered if…seeing it might jog some memories."

Ron gestured towards the living room. "Maybe I should show you around?" Hermione went into the room and he followed her. "That's where Rose took her first steps. That's where Hugo said his first word. Hasn't said many since, of course."

Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't remember any of this."

"Well…how about you just have a wander? I'll leave you to it."

Ron was in the kitchen half an hour later when Hermione came in. "Were we happy here?"she asked.

Ron thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think we were,"he decided at last.

Hermione held his gaze, then she looked away. "Harry's waiting for me."

Ron sighed. There were some things that even amnesia couldn't change. "Yeah. I guess he is."


	11. Chapter 11: In Training

**Picked up another follower so thank you and welcome to that person!**

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CHAPTER ELEVEN: In Training

Harry and Hermione were standing opposite each other in a large open space, in one of the house's empty rooms, wands drawn. "I didn't remember a thing,"Hermione sighed, still depressed from the lack of connection she'd felt in her old home.

In truth, Harry hadn't really expected her to. But he had held onto a slight hope that the visit might make a difference. A hope that he knew deep down had never really been there. "This isn't like normal memory loss,"he explained. "Like you've had a bump on the head or a trauma or something. Your memory was erased by magic. Only magic can bring it back."

"So what can we do?"Hermione asked.

"Well, we have to find a way to restore it magically. Or else we just teach you everything again. Which is why we're here."

Hermione sighed. She'd been trying to avoid that. "Are you sure about this?"

"Basic defensive spell. We learnt it in duelling club in second year." He could see Hermione still wasn't sure. "Look, you've already mastered some simple spells. So you know you can do magic. It's just a question of learning the spells."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't. Unless you do it wrong."

Hermione winced. "That's what I'm afraid of." Harry gave her an encouraging look and she took a deep breath and waved her wand. "Expelliarmus!"

A bolt of magical energy shot out of her wand but went nowhere near Harry, passing to the side and above his head.

"Good start,"Harry told her encouragingly. "Now try and aim it."

Hermione aimed the wand more carefully at Harry. "Expelliarmus!"she repeated. This time the spell struck Harry in the chest, knocking him off his feet. Hermione rushed towards him worriedly. "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry! Are you all right?"

Harry sat up. "Petrificus totalus." He froze Hermione in place for a moment then lifted the spell. "Good but I still had my wand. You need to really disarm someone to stop them fighting you. Try again."

Somewhat chastened, Hermione resumed her place as Harry got to his feet. "Expelliarmus!" This time the spell struck home, knocking Harry's wand out of his hand. "Accio wand!"Hermione added for effect, causing it to fly into his hand.

Harry smiled at the improvisation. He took the wand from her and gave her a brief hug which wasn't entirely needed. "Okay, let's try that again."

* * *

Albus was on his way out to the Quidditch pitch when he passed Hugo going the other way. "Hey, where are you going? Damon wants us all on the pitch for trials in ten minutes. He's not gonna consider you if you're late."

"I'm not going,"Hugo said unhappily.

Albus went over to his cousin-turned-stepbrother. "What do you mean? I thought you always wanted to be on the Quidditch team."

Hugo nodded. "I want to play keeper, like Dad did. But that's Damon's position, he's not going to give it to me."

"Well…no, but Damon's leaving next year. If you're reserve this year, you stand a better chance of taking over then. And you never know, you might get lucky and Damon will fall off his broom so you have to take over."

Hugo looked at him in slight confusion. "Next year?" He sounded as though the concept of such a thing was alien to him.

Albus sighed. "Look, I know it's hard with everything that's going on with your mum but we need to look to the future. She's not going to want you to stop doing something you enjoy, is she?"

Hugo shrugged but managed a ghost of a smile. "S'pose not."

Albus put his arm round the boy and led him back in the direction of the pitch. "Come on."


	12. Chapter 12: Game On

**Well, I picked up a review. I can't reply in full to that person because they weren't logged in so I'll just say that it's difficult to cut someone out of your life when you've got children together and I hope I've never tried to portray Harry and Hermione as faultless (or indeed that that's how they're portrayed in canon). If you haven't liked this story so far, you probably won't like the rest of it but I stress that all readers and all reviews are welcome. Very welcome.**

**Thank you also to everyone who's added this to their favourite or follows.**

* * *

CHAPTER TWELVE: Game On

It was a sunny day at Hogwarts for the first Quidditch match of the season, the traditional bout between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Harry and Hermione were with Neville in the Gryffindor section of the crowd. Rose and Hugo sat a few rows in front of them with some of their friends.

Lily had made it onto the team as the only change from the previous year's lineup. She gave a wave to Harry and Hermione as she lined up with Angela Barnes and Natalie Ellis, the other Chasers. They both waved back, Harry making a point of also making eye contact with James, back as Beater alongside Martin, and Albus, in Harry's old position as Seeker.

The Slytherin team was unchanged from the previous year. Their captain, Matthew Stone, shared the customary handshake with Damon Willis, his opposite number, before Damon flew back into goal and Matthew took up position with the other two Chasers, Apollo Zabini and Jessica Pucey.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle and the game started.

Harry had made an attempt to explain the rules to Hermione before the game but at present she was looking back and forth in bewilderment, attempting to make sense of all the balls and players flying around on the pitch. She gestured to one of the balls. "Bludger?"she asked hopefully.

"Quaffle,"Harry explained. Lily caught the relevant ball at that moment and managed to hurl it past Peter Lenoir in the Slytherin goal, eliciting cheers and applause from the Gryffindor supporters.

"So those other ones must be the Bludgers,"Hermione concluded. "So where's the snitch?"

"That's the question,"Harry replied. Hermione looked at him quizzically. "It's small and fast so you don't see it that well. The Seekers are looking for it." He gestured to Albus and Scorpius.

"Don't worry,"Neville offered reassuringly. "I still don't understand some of it."

Harry glanced at the scoreboard. Lily and her fellow Chasers were having a field day, which was matched by Damon in the Gryffindor goal, meaning Gryffindor were now a hundred points ahead. James and Martin were in a private duel with the two Slytherin Beaters, Steven Walker and Matthias Jackson, with the result that their skills with the Bludgers was cancelling each other out. Only the snitch was an unknown factor.

Albus and Scorpius both spotted the snitch and dived. The pair were elbow to elbow, jostling with each other. Then the snitch shot upwards. Neither of them managed to match its arc, instead having to pull up sharply to avoid hitting the ground, spinning off in opposite directions.

"Good try, Scorpius!"Rose shouted.

Hermione looked confused. "Is she cheering for the Slytherin Seeker?"

"He's her boyfriend,"Harry explained.

"Oh." Hermione looked at the blonde boy warily. "Do I like him?"

"Usually."

Lily was about to take a shot when one of the few Bludgers that James and Martin had missed hit her on the shoulder. She gave a slight yelp as she lost control of the Quaffle but Natalie had the presence of mind to knock it past Peter, putting Gryffindor a hundred and twenty points ahead, before flying back to check on her teammate. Harry looked concerned but Lily managed a triumphant smile through the pain.

The snitch had been sighted again, hovering near the ground. Albus and Scorpius both spotted it at the same time, from opposite sides of the pitch, and dived for it. Once again, the snitch shot upwards once they got too close. This time, however, while Albus' course took him away from it, Scorpius was in a position to copy the snitch's course and rise up after it. Albus spun his broom round and gave chase but Scorpius had the head start. His hand wrapped round the snitch, bringing it under control.

Harry glanced at the board as the hundred and fifty points were added to Slytherin's total. Gryffindor had ended the game twenty points in front, the narrowest of margins and one that was likely to leave them second in the table after the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff game.

The Slytherin team congratulated Scorpius on his catch while the Gryffindors made a slightly muted celebration at a vaguely unsatisfying victory.

Harry turned to Hermione. "Will you have dinner with me?"

* * *

Harry had taken Hermione to one of the wizarding world's most exclusive restaurants. Their entrance had created a slight stir but most patrons had been too polite to sit staring at the couple, allowing them their privacy in one of their first public appearances since their wedding and the subsequent events.

Hermione had looked over the menu with some bemusement, only recognising half the dishes, before playing safe and ordering a salad. She and Harry sat eating their meals, the conversation flowing between them as if the past two months had never happened.

"So I used to watch you playing Quidditch?"Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. "Ron got on the team as well in the fifth year. But yeah, I played every season."

Hermione watched him curiously. "You're embarrassed by that, aren't you?"

"No, no,"Harry insisted quickly. He thought for a moment. "I'm proud of it in a way. It was the first thing I was actually good at when I started Hogwarts. People expected great things of me, because of my parents or because I managed not to get killed when I was a baby, and I felt like I was letting them down. I just…don't like to boast, that's all."

Hermione smiled at him. "Well, maybe you should start practising."

Before Harry could answer, a shrill female voice cut through the restaurant. "Excuse me! Excuse me!" Harry turned at the voice and saw a tall and thin woman with blonde hair which he suspected was even less natural than it used to be forcing her way towards them. She stopped at their table and looked at them, clutching a hand to her chest in an exaggerated expression of delight. "Well. Look at you two. Together as ever. The golden couple of the wizarding world. The people have truly taken you to their hearts. They've even managed to overlook that unfortunate adultery thing." She turned to Hermione. "Mrs Potter. You don't remember me, do you?" Her eyes suddenly narrowed suspiciously. "Do you?"

Harry sighed. "Hermione, this is Rita Skeeter. She's a gossip columnist."

"I am a serious professional,"Rita insisted in the same soft, condescending voice. "Now, Hermione… may I call you Hermione? The story of your tragic start to married life…second time round…is one that surely must be told. How you and Harry have found each other again through the fog of your lost past. Would you do me the honour of allowing me to tell your story?"

Hermione looked at Harry who shook his head. She looked back at Rita, smiling sweetly. "I have a feeling, Mrs Skeeter – or is it Miss Skeeter? – that you are the last person I would tell something that personal to. But I will tell you that my husband has been giving me magic lessons. We've just got on to hexes. Would you like me to try some on you?"

Rita's smile as she backed away from the table was paperthin. "Nice to know amnesia hasn't changed you."

* * *

"You were amazing,"Harry told Hermione as they arrived home.

Hermione shook her head in bewilderment. "I don't know what came over me."

"It felt like having the old Hermione back." Harry paused, realising how crass the comment might seem. "Sorry, I just meant…"

"It's all right." Hermione stopped just in front of him and looked him in the eye, suddenly nervous. "I think I liked being the old Hermione."

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. He allowed his arms to encircle her waist as he returned the kiss, careful not to push too far and unnerve her. He felt excited and nervous, as if this were their first kiss. Finally, she pulled back. "Would you stay with me tonight?"she asked. "I mean…I don't want…I'm not ready…but…could we just cuddle?"

Harry put his arms round her and smiled. "I'd love to."


End file.
